A British army sniper has lodged an official complaint with the Ministry of Defense (MoD) that his life has been risked by the public disclosure of his identity.

According to the claim, the soldier has been advised to leave the country to safeguard his life and those of his family members, the Daily Telegraph reported on Sunday.

The MoD regulations dictate that snipers' identities should remain confidential as they might face retaliatory attacks. The main function of these marksmen in Afghanistan's Helmand province where the British troops are deployed is to hit Taliban and al-Qaeda 'high value targets.'

The controversy began during a parade at his regiment's barracks, when the sniper recounted his story of shooting two Taliban insurgents from a distance of over 1.5 miles.

The news quickly spread through the world's newspapers and the sniper's identity and photographs were revealed along with his story despite the MoD's earlier assurances that the details of his personal information would not be published.

According to the letter, the MoD's press representatives and the Media Operations team within the ministry have acknowledged that the leak was a "catastrophic error."

Several snipers have been the targets of unsuccessful retaliatory plots in recent years.

In one of the cases discovered in January 2007, six al-Qaeda members in Birmingham planned to abduct a soldier and publish footage of his beheading on the internet to discourage others from joining the army. They were later arrested and put to trial.